Prussian Empire
= Prussian Empire = “We are the heart of Europe, and as any good physician will tell you, heart muscles are very hard to crush or burn, and immensely powerful.” - Sire Ludwig Sigismund, Commander of the Land Fleet, lecturing to the General Staff Since the turn of the century, the mighty Prussian Empire has been the dominant military and economic power of Central and Western Europe. Constructed over the course of the course of the Eighteenth century with a combination of patience, diplomacy and when necessary, calculated aggression, Prussia rose from a minor kingdom within a confederation of petty states to the major force it is now. The empire leads the world in engineering and scientific research, and its industrial might is a match for even its greatest rivals. Despite its great power, the empire has known considerable civil and military strife in its recent past. The megalomania and paranoia of the fifth Emperor Heinrich Otto drove a wedge into relations between his realm’s many different peoples that almost shattered it asunder. Combined with major military defeat at the hands of the Britannians in 1815, the Prussians were left humbled and spent. However, Heinrich’s successor, Frederick Grunder, has proven to be a wise and patient leader during his long reign. While the Britannians pursued their costly ambitions of global dominion, Frederick quietly and efficiently rebuilt his nation’s economy, military and pride. Now, threatened once again by outside aggression, the Prussian Empire is more than ready to grind its way to victory. World War History Dominion From a small, poor north German kingdom, the Prussian dominions have grown to encompass the bulk of the European continent from France in the west to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the east, and from the heart of the Balkans to the Arctic Circle. Much of these lands, such as the Dutch provinces, were annexed before and during the reign of Heinrich Otto before madness overtook him. Taking advantage of Austrian weaknesses after their defeats by Napoleon, the Prussians annexed the former territories of the Habsburg Empire into their own dominion. Norway and Sweden followed suit in 1810, to provide a buffer against Britannian and Russian ambitions. As a result, the Prussian Empire is home to a large number of different peoples and cultures. Germans form the vast majority of the population, but the far northern and southern portions of the realm incorporate many non-German populations and political entities. The major powers are the Dutch, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks and Croats, but the emperor’s subjects also include Norwegians, Swedes, Slovenes, Serbs and Romanians The empire’s borders have stood more or less unchanged since Frederick Grunder ascended the throne in 1819. Even after the empire had begun to recover, Frederick considered that territorial expansion was not a priority, being both costly and likely to antagonise other nations. Although Prussian migrants and settlers have established themselves in other regions around the world, most notably South-West Africa and several ports on the Chinese coast, the Prussian Empire does not officially sponsor overseas colonisation. Also, with the advent of war with the Commonwealth and the Russian Coalition, several provinces of old Prussia, especially those on the Baltic Coast, have effectively become warzones and placed under military rule. Prussia’s principal concern at the moment is with expelling invaders from its existing holdings, rather than obtaining new ones. Nonetheless, Frederick and his advisors will not miss an opportunity to extend the empire’s borders eastward to push the enemy further away from their heartlands.